Reverso Hybris Artistica Calibre 179 - A display of incredible craftsmanship

The Reverso is one of the most iconic watches ever, but it’s not just a fantastic entry-level dress watch. Jaeger LeCoultre uses the rectangular case to house some of its most complex movements, and the fact that it is reversible with two different dials allows for endless exploration of métiers d’art.

This year, the Swiss manufacturer released the Reverso Hybris Artistica Calibre 179, which showcases its incredible complications and craftsmanship.

The eye is instantly drawn to the Gyrotourbillon that pulsates and twirls at 6 o’clock. This is one of the most impressive evolutions of the tourbillon in all of horology. The tourbillon itself rotates 360 degrees every 16 seconds, while the peripheral carriage containing the tourbillon rotates once a minute.

It’s also a flying tourbillon, which means it has no visible connections to the rest of the watch movement and appears to be floating unsupported. This swirling dance is absolutely hypnotic and is visible from both sides.

While the Gyrotourbillon is undoubtedly the highlight of this timepiece, Jaeger-LeCoultre created two stunning dials with different personalities to showcase this masterpiece. The first has a round, blue lacquered dial at 6 o’clock that displays the hours and minutes. It has a delicate sunburst motif. The seconds are discreetly tucked in alongside the ring of the tourbillon cage. Since the peripheral carriage makes a full rotation every 60 seconds, you can use it to tell the precise time.

The background of the watch features crisscrossing lines of gold and matching blue lacquer. At first glance, it appears that the golden lines were added to the blue background, but they are actually the movement’s plates. Artisans carefully removed the metal around these lines and filled them with lacquer to create this visual effect.

The second dial is fully skeletonized, showcasing the intricacies and fine finishings of the complex movement. It has a skeletonized minute track with applied gold hour markers. Several of the movement components are coated in lacquer to echo the design on the front.

Most Duoface Reversos feature the same time zone on each side, just with different dials. This watch is capable of displaying two different time zones, with a 24-hour indicator for the additional time zone on the secondary dial.

Despite the complex and large rotating tourbillon, the watch measures 13.63mm, and the case was designed to ensure it was comfortable for all-day wear. The movement has a 40-hour power reserve and is water resistant to 30m. This stunning watch is finished with a matching blue alligator strap. A watch this complex combines dozens of skills and requires hundreds of hours of work, so it’s limited to just 10 pieces worldwide.